THIS week I have been to Devon. Along with others, I was sent there to ensure that we are properly representing the views of small businessmen in Devon to those who make our laws.

The meeting took place just north of Honiton in the Blackdown Hills. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty covering a large part of East Devon. The broad, open arable fields of Yorkshire give way to grass and hedges, to sheep and cows. The area is sparsely populated, and, remarkably, there is no town of any significant size within its boundaries.

It is a part of England, therefore, that is about as rural as it is possible to get. We were not surprised to discover that many of the problems of Devon were those found elsewhere in rural Britain. One of the participants in the meeting, a man who had been a farmer, but who had re-trained as a plumber, made a most interesting point.

Many of us are familiar with the problems of obtaining homes in the rural areas in which we work. The sort of developments which are built in our villages tend to be affordable only to those who are well established on the property ladder. Even the cheaper houses in villages are now priced at many multiples of the average salary of the residents of the villages.

This is true of those in Devon as well as those in Yorkshire. I suspect that it is more widespread than that. Our pigs were looked after up to a few years ago by someone who for personal reasons decided to emigrate to Australia. UK pig keeping's loss was Australian office management's gain. Since he has worked outside agriculture he has been able to buy himself a house. The truth is that primary agricultural producers throughout the world are under such pressure from their buyers that few involved can take home an average living.

There is a system in this country whereby permission can be granted for the building of houses in rural areas where planning would not normally be available. This is provided that the residents in the house are involved in agriculture.

Sometimes there is an additional requirement that potential buyers should be from the local area. The decline in the number of people involved in agriculture has resulted in this system being less useful than once it was.

It was argued that what the countryside now needs is not necessarily accommodation for those employed in agriculture, but affordable housing for those involved in other key areas. There are all sorts of difficulties in such a policy. To start with there is the definition of what is meant by affordable and key. We all think we know, but it would be difficult to arrive at an objective test.

It is understandable that private developers should want to build large houses. Such houses provide the best opportunity to make a profit from their investment in land and building materials. They are driven by market forces to produce a product that only some can afford. Such developments tend to reduce the numbers of children in local schools, and villages need local schools and young people to give them a focus.

The countryside has certain requirements in terms of skilled people to keep it going. If you need, for example, plumbers then they need houses in which to live. If the market will not provide such houses on its own accord, then the market should be interfered with until it does.

Updated: 10:26 Tuesday, October 07, 2003